


A Weight for Two

by HomuraBakura



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: 30 Minute Fic, Ancient Egypt, Best Friends, F/M, Pre-coronation, They're Definitely Also a Couple Though, Vaseshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-06
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:36:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7409638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomuraBakura/pseuds/HomuraBakura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm not strong enough."<br/>"Then let me hold some of that weight too."</p><p>[30 min oneshot]</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Weight for Two

“Wow—you look....really good!”

Atem frowned as he lifted his arms, turning to look over his back.

“Are you sure? I feel kind of ridiculous.”

Mana shook her head furiously, her legs kicking back and forth against the ledge she was perched on.

Atem had stepped out of his room decked out in his full coronation regalia, a long, canvas-white tunic and deep violet cloak that dragged on the ground. Several swatches of colored fabric were pulled from his shoulder and tied off at the waist with a gold belt, the extra fabric allowed to drape down on either side of him. He wore three golden bracers on each arm, and several more on his calves just visible under the hem of the tunic, and the eye of Horus looked out from his forehead on his grand, winged golden crown.

“You look super cool! Like a pharaoh!” Mana said.

Atem frowned again, the expression pulling his face into that wrinkled, concerned look that made him look like he was constipated. A frown never looked good on him.

“I don't...feel like a pharaoh...” he mumbled.

His hands drew up to the heavy Millennium Puzzle that hung around his neck, right at the center of his chest. Mana's smile released and faded, her kicks slowed. The Puzzle still looked...somehow wrong on him, she thought. It was probably too heavy. Papa-Pharaoh had had big strong shoulders, so it wasn't heavy for him but....but Atem had such narrow, skinny shoulders. The rope probably dug into his neck. It was probably going to pull him over. He was too skinny for it.

He wasn't supposed to be wearing it. Not _yet_. It was...too soon.

Mana hopped off the ledge. She didn't make a sound as she alighted on the marble floor, and slipped over to where Atem cradled the Puzzle in both hands.

She cupped her hands underneath his, supported the weight that he wasn't quite able to bear yet. Atem looked up at her. His crimson eyes were shiny—tears that he wasn't allowed to release yet.

“Mana,” he mumbled. “I'm...I'm so scared.”

Mana curled her hands tighter around his.

“It's okay to be scared,” she said. “Cause this is big.”

“I can't be a pharaoh. Everyone looks at me different now—I'm not...I'm not strong enough for this. Mana, I can't go out there—”

Keeping her hands under his, Mana leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Her lips met the single tear that had managed to escape the corner of his eye, and as she pulled back, she reached one hand up to wipe it away.

She placed both hands under his again, met his eyes. She smiled.

“If you can't hold it all by yourself,” she whispered, “then let me hold a little bit with you, okay?”

She lifted the Puzzle up in both their hands, until they were holding it out in between them. The weight wasn't so bad when they were holding it together. It felt light, even. She tilted her head with a smile.

“And you'll always be my precious best friend to me,” she said. “Pharaoh or prince—you're still my Atem.”

Atem blinked once, twice, rapidly, trying to hold back the tears. But a smile managed to break over his face. He leaned forward, pressing his head against the side of the Puzzle.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

She leaned forward and pressed her forehead to the other side of the Puzzle, the golden metal warm between them. Their hands were warm where they cradled each other, and the heat seemed to pulse into the Puzzle.

It wasn't heavy anymore.

 


End file.
